Ubisoft wants to bring Rainbow Six: Siege to new Asian markets, and it’s sterilizing some parts of the game in the process — regardless of where you live. It’s prepping a Year 3 Season 4 update to the global version of the game that removes numerous references to gambling, sex and certain violent elements. Slot machines, neon stripper signs, blood patches and even skull imagery has been replaced with ‘safer’ references, even in in the activity feed for kills. There will be a separate build, Ubisoft added on Reddit, but it’ll be region-locked even if you try to use a VPN.
According to the developer, the sanitized version is all about speed and efficiency. This reduces the amount of work Ubisoft has to do (important if it has to quickly address bugs or gameplay balance), and makes the game “future proof” by ensuring that any updates are in sync with regulations.
The company stressed that the changes wouldn’t affect the “core gameplay.” Nonetheless, that could easily leave players frustrated. Ubisoft is making everyone play the same toned-down edition of Siege whether or not it’s necessary in their corner of the world. While this really isn’t going to dilute the quality of the game itself (your attention will likely be focused on players, not decor), it might be hard to shake the feeling that the game has lost a bit of its edge in the name of expedience.
